


after the island

by thisprentiss



Category: The Incredibles (2004)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, those shits were just kids!!! bitch syndrome straight up tried to murder CHILDREN!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 23:03:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15011339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisprentiss/pseuds/thisprentiss
Summary: dash doesn't have to cope with what happened, because he doesn't think about it(until he does)





	after the island

**Author's Note:**

> syndrome atone  
> u know what 6 year old me at incredibles one probably wasn't expecting to be writing incredibles angst fanfiction 14 years later but here we are posting what i wrote last night @ 3 am

Everything - the plane, the crash, getting to the island, the fire in the cave, escaping those soldiers, being held in the detainment unit, escaping the island, fighting the Omni-droid, their house exploding around them - all of it went by in a complete blur. Well... not a blur.

It was all just _hazy._ Like it had all happened in a weird, messed up dream.

Mr. Dicker got them set up in a motel until the program could find them a new house to relocate to, and after the battle with Syndrome and the Omni-droid, their family seemed to be getting along better than ever. Dash was thrilled when his mom relented and said he was allowed to try out for track and field.

"On _one_ condition, young man," she said, watching him shovel pizza into his mouth, "You go for second. Or a _close_ first at your meets."

Despite what Mr. Dicker said about "trauma" or "needing possible therapy" everyone was holding it together just fine. _Looked_ like they were holding it together just fine. Dash didn't notice Violet quietly talking to their mom about her nightmares, he didn't see his dad waking up in a panic until he saw his family sleeping around him, didn't realize his mom held Jack Jack tighter against her chest as she rocked him to sleep with fear in her eyes.

Dash was holding it together fine. His brain moved too fast to accidentally dwell on what had happened. How they had almost _died._ Multiple times. He shot over to a different thought any time images of the plane exploding around them popped into his mind. He shifted thoughts so quickly he almost convinced himself he didn't think about what had happened. Dash _never_ thought about the island.

Until he did.

Track tryouts weren't the most popular sports tryouts, but there were more kids there than Dash had expected. It didn't matter. He could outrun any and all of them.

They went through warmups, stretches, and exercises, then lined up for a mock-race for the coach to get an idea of what his runners would look like. He blew his whistle and the boys all crouched down into a starting position.

Then he fired a flare gun.

And Dash was back on the Island.

He saw the other boys take off around him like he was watching someone else's dream, he couldn't move. Dash was used to his heart racing - it came with superhuman speed - but this was _different._ His heart was _pounding_ , he could hear it in his ears; all the other noise sounded like he was underwater. Maybe he _was_ underwater. He couldn't breathe. He was running, running, dropping into the water as the two hovercrafts crashed and exploded above him.

Dash hit the ground on his side. Not underwater. On the ground. He was on the ground- but- but- he still couldn't breathe. Everything from the past week was reeling in his mind in slow motion. He killed eight people on that island. He was running away from them, they were firing guns at him, but the explosions still echoed in his head. His ears were ringing. He might black out. He killed eight people. That's almost a person for every year he's been alive.

Someone's hand touched his back and he kicked at whoever it was, crying out, trying desperately to get up. To _run._ His throat hurt. Like someone was strangling him. Everything was blurry. Maybe he would be embarrassed about crying in front of half his grade if he wasn't so _scared._

"Dashall, hey," the coach sounded like he was standing a few miles away. Dash just wanted to go home. "What's wrong, what's going on? Are you alright?"

The sun glanced off one of the kids' shock of red hair and Dash felt another wave of panic crash into him. He put his arms over his head and curled into himself, shaking and crying and wishing he was with his family so he could know he was safe, so he could know _they_ were safe and not dead in a plane crash or gunned down or murdered by Syndrome or the Omni-droid-

"Can you move? Excuse me, sir, that's my brother-"

_Violet._

"Vi!" Dash scrambled up and practically launched himself into her arms. She squeezed him tight and held onto him until he'd stopped crying, shooting a glare at one kid that dared to give them a vaguely mocking look. Eventually, he'd relaxed, and Violet pulled out of the hug.

"You alright?" she asked. Dash nodded, sniffling. Violet ruffled his hair and smiled. "I love you, kiddo."

The coach let Dash go back inside to the bathroom - "By myself, I'm okay, Violet, stop being so annoying!" - and Violet stood with her arms crossed tightly over her chest as she spoke to the coach in a hushed voice.

"We were in the city when that big robot attacked," she explained. It wasn't technically a lie. They _were._

"The flare probably scared him," the coach agreed, and Violet nodded. "There's still more time left in the tryouts, and we're gonna redo the mock race. He shouldn't have to worry about getting on the team."

Pride flashed across Violet's eyes. "He's doing good?"

"He's doing _great._ I feel like he might be holding himself back, though."

She snorted. "Oh, you have no idea."


End file.
